The Great Divide is an immersive story about those affected by the building of the Panama Canal in the early 1900s. The characters and stories are Interconnected and we see many different perspectives, from local Panamanians, doctors visiting from the US and France, to a young worker from Barbados and her family.

The chapters are pretty short and told at a good pace, focusing on a different character's perspective, which kept me interested. The cast of characters is huge, so it can be difficult to keep them straight. I think it also limited my connection to them since we don't spend a lot of time with them. It was fascinating to ponder the breadth of experiences in Panama and how hard some people had to struggle.

Although the Panama Canal was a hugely impressive feat of engineering and hard work, workers died and land was irreversibly altered. The Great Divide illustrates who profited the most from it and who sacrificed the most for it.

Thank you Ecco and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

The author does a great job of engaging the reader throughout the novel while juggling all the different characters introduced. I especially liked how the characters connected throughout. I learned so much and would recommend this.

I love historical fiction! This novel about the history of the Panama Canal was so well-written and a topic not written about much which was refreshing! Shined a bright light on the interesting groups of people who poured their sweat into constructing it. Can't recommend it highly enough!

Having been named a Read with Jenna Book Club Selection for March, as well as receiving pre-publication nods from a variety of media, including Time and the Washington Post, Cristina Henriquez’s latest novel does not need additional accolades. Her fiction has typically drawn on her Panamanian roots, featuring the country as both a setting and the birthplace of many of her characters. True to form, Henriquez’s latest novel uses the 1907 construction of the Panama Canal as its sensational backdrop.

This meticulously researched tale is told through the kaleidoscope of intersecting lives: Francisco Aquino, a Panamanian fisherman, who had raised his son as a single father, is anguished that the lonely teenage Omar has sought community by “join[ing] the biggest undertaking known to man;” 16 year old Ada Bunting, a stowaway from Barbados, whose family toiled for generations on a sugar plantation, comes to Panama seeking work to pay for her ailing sister’s surgery; and John and Marian Oswald, a cordial but loveless couple from Tennessee, arrive in Panama because John hopes to eradicate malaria.

The Great Divide is ambitious, immersive and propulsive. Henriquez beautifully weaves together the intersecting stories of ordinary people who come from different backgrounds drawn together by this massive 10-year construction project. She deftly details the sacrifices and challenges the migrants, laborers, and locals who made the waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. She also does a masterful job of providing a vivid sense of place. She describes the rigid racial divisions in the Canal Zone and the laborers working in the steamy heat and the ceaseless rain. A sweeping novel that will delight fans of historical fiction.

This book is less about the building of the Panama Canal than the impact of the building of the canal on a group of people from different backgrounds. It reminded me of Ken Follett's style where you get context on a particular time in history through the eyes of everyday people. The history itself has a ripple effect on their livelihoods and relationships but not always in a direct way. This was a good commentary on the impact of colonialism and how it just steamrolled through small lives in the name of the greater good. While I enjoyed these characters and the stories of their little lives in the context of the greater moment, I still want more detail on the canal building itself. My favorite part was the piece about the thwarting of tropical diseases (my biologist side was really entertained there!). The book is billed as an epic novel, but it needed 100 more pages on the politics and the machinations of the building itself. We get the colonist's side but not the other side, I wanted both for a more balanced story. The end cuts to six years later and I very much wanted more detail about that period and all that came after. Still a nice piece of historical fiction about a time I knew very little about.

Thanks to Ecco Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above are my own.

This is a snapshot of history during construction of the Panama Canal told from multiple perspective. Omar, a canal laborer seeking connection outside his isolated fishing village, is defying the wishes of his father Francisco, a lonely fisherman opposed to the canal. Omar crosses paths with Ada, who has arrived in Panama looking for work that will pay for a medical procedure her sister needs back in Barbados. She finds work as a caretaker for Mrs. Oswald, who is bedridden at home while her husband seeks to eradicate malaria. In addition to these characters, we hear from Ada’s mother, a local fishmonger and his wife, and other characters. From their stories, we learn about the tremendous impact of canal construction on the everyday lives of ordinary people.
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I enjoyed reading about a place in the world and a period in history that I’ve not had much exposure too. Henriquez developed a strong sense of place - I could picture The Cut, the jungle, the Oswald estate, and a small villages. Although there were many characters, they were well developed and easy to remember. If you’re looking for unique historical fiction, definitely check this out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for sending me an electronic ARC.

THE GREAT DIVIDE by Cristina Henriquez is a LibraryReads selection for March and was chosen as a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick. This title is historical fiction – centered around the building of the Panama Canal between 1904 and 1914 – but like her earlier work (The Book of Unknown Americans) tells the story through the actions and thoughts of multiple characters. My personal favorite was Ana, a young girl from Barbados who stowed away to travel to Panama to find work and support her ailing sister. There, she meets a young man, Omar, who works on the canal. Other characters include the Oswalds from Tennessee – he is fighting for the eradication of malaria and she is a botanist who is not allowed to establish a career. In fact, women are often thwarted and by necessity dependent on men in this text which, while historically realistic, added some frustration for this reader. In general, I thought Henriquez's novel had a strong start and I was curious about the characters, but the limited choices and spiteful actions (Omar and his father do not speak to each other; there is a cruel overseer at the canal works) made reading the story increasingly more of a slog – perhaps that was meant to echo the drudgery of creating the canal? Although I found it difficult to stay engaged and finish the story, THE GREAT DIVIDE received starred reviews from Booklist ("dramatizing with tenderness, insight, and striking detail how '‘the great divide' not only split the land but also communities, families, culture, and a sense of wholeness.") and Publishers Weekly ("delves deeply into themes of colonialism and labor exploitation"). The beautiful cover is eye-catching – have a read and decide for yourself.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this one. I loved Cristina Henriquez's previous novel, The Book of Unknown Americans. I can sense that there are similarities in style here. However, the number of characters was overwhelming to me. While I can recognize it's obviously an important story to tell - and that Henriquez is an exceptional author - this one didn't work for me.

Wow, this book was fascinating and eye opening. I have read very little about the building of the Panama Canal and this book definitely delivered on the research. It was well written, descriptive and emotional. I enjoyed reading about the different backgrounds, experiences and lives of those involved in the creation of the Panama Canal. I was literally transported back in time and was able to vividly picture and experience what the author was describing. My only complaint is that there were a lot of different characters - beneficial to learn about the different lives involved - but some stories left me wanting more. The book very strongly portrays race and class division at the time, which is often difficult to read. However, it also was an accurate experience of the time. A very well researched and written book - I would recommend to anyone interested in life experiences and history.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

What a coincidence that I read this book right after a visit to Panama! "The Great Divide" by Cristina Henriquez is definitely a different version than the rosy story tourists are told at the Miraflores Lock. It explores the human side of the building of the Panama Canal; those who dug the canal, those residents who had to relocate due to the formation of Gatun Lake, and those who came to eradicate malaria. I loved this book because it brought a largely unknown slice of history alive to me through its vivid characters and descriptive writing. I was thoroughly engrossed from the first page to the last and reading it made me feel like I was right back on the Isthmus. Everyone knows that the Panama Canal changed the world forever. This book brings to light how it altered the lives of many people forever too. It would make an excellent book club pick (and is a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick) because there is a lot to discuss and unpack. And the cover is gorgeous-it reminds me of the fabric I saw for sale everywhere in Panama City (and now graces my table at home).

This was my first book by Cristina Henriquez, but it definitely will not be my last. Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this fabulous book, a book that belongs on every historical fiction must-read list for 2024. Five stars!

(Thanks to @eccobooks.) I was very excited to read 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘 for two main reasons. To begin, I’m a big fan of Cristina Henríquez’s 2014 novel 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴, and I was also looking forward to a story set around the building of the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me. In my opinion there were too many characters and not enough plot.⁣⁣⁣
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It felt like Henríquez was trying to cover so much ground that she was never able to go very deep anywhere in her story. This muddied the waters around what was purported to be a story of the building of the Panama Canal. Instead it was snippets of many people’s lives, and many different events, some closely connected to the Canal, but others much further out from it. ⁣
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The story meandered too often for me, and to be honest, by the second half I was skimming pretty regularly. Of course, that’s never a good sign. It will be interesting to read a few more reviews of this one. It’s the @readwithjenna 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘊𝘭𝘶𝘣 pick, so obviously, there are readers out there who have loved it. I suggest searching those out rather than letting my words sway you!

Not quite what I expected. I thought this book would focus more on the actual building of the Panama Canal. However it really is about how different people came from various countries to support the building of the canal (doctors, cooks, housekeepers) as well as the friction and disruption it caused Panamanians. There were compelling storylines and I'm glad that I read it - it's left me wanting to learn more about what life was like before, during, and after the building of the canal.

This was a great read for understanding more about the cultural implications of building the Panama canal. However, the pace was really slow and the entire story felt like character development without anything really happening.

A beautifully written novel concerning a group of people involved in the Panama Canal. This story shows colonialism via multiple POVs. It is very much a character driven novel. The building of the Panama Canal being more of a backdrop than a plot.
This is a very slow plot line. I feel like you have to be in a very distinct mindset to enjoy this style of writing. It will not be for everyone. If you know you enjoy these kind of character study novels then this will be the book for you.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book.

I found The Great Divide, by Cristina Henriquez, on a short list of most anticipated novels of 2024. I don’t like to get shut out when a book gets this much buzz; then there’s the added draw of an unusual setting. The U.S. doesn’t see a lot of fiction published that’s set primarily in Panama during the early 1900s, and so that sealed it. My thanks go to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the review copies, both audio and digital. This story lives up to the hype, and I recommend it to you.

I am not so sure about it at the outset. There is a robust quantity of characters that are important to the story, and each of them is given a brief chapter all to themselves. I wonder whether they will ever intersect, or if this will turn out to be a collection of short stories, but before much longer, characters are meeting other characters. They don’t all end up together in the end, but we can see the ties that have formed. There are a lot of people to keep track of, and for me, having both the print version and the audio is tremendously helpful. Robin Miles narrates in a way that is natural and fluid, and I don’t notice much of what is around me when I listen to her. But once in awhile a character is mentioned and I draw a blank; here is where the Kindle version is essential, because I highlight the names of each of the characters, and this enables me to instantly flip back to where they were introduced to us without having to stop listening. Eventually, of course, I no longer need to do so, but knowing that I can makes for stress-free reading.

I am engaged with these characters, each of whom feels real to me, and I groan when I see them get into trouble, and sigh with relief once they are in the clear again. The ones that I care about most are a father and son that are estranged from each other, neither wanting to stay that way, yet both of them incorrectly interpreting the silence of the other. As we reach the climax, I can tell there are three ways for this situation to resolve: they can reconcile; one of them can die; or the son can decide to follow another character back to the U.S.A. without reconnecting with his dad. It only now occurs to me that there was a fourth possibility, which was to leave them still estranged at the end; but by this time, Henriquez had shown herself to be a better writer than that, and while I won’t tell you how they wound up, I will say that she didn’t leave her readers dangling.

Because this is an intricately woven tale with a lot of equally important characters, I’m not including any quotes, but I will say that Henriquez is a talented writer, and anyone that loves good historical fiction should get this book and read it. This applies even more so to those interested in Latin American history and the building of the canal. I hadn’t read her work before, but she’s on my radar now, and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

I am not sure what I was expecting, but The Great Divide took me by surprise in the best way ever. The book follows the stories of several people who's lives intersect with the building on the Panama Canal.

Ada is 16 years old and leaves her mother and sister in Barbados to try to make the money that is needed to pay for her sister's surgery. She arrived in Barbados with very little but saves the life of Omar. He is a young Panamanian who is working on the Canal against his father's wishes. Marian is the wife of a scientist, an intelligent woman in her own right, but because she is a woman who has lived in the shadows of her husband. Now she is in Panama, where her husband is expected to eradicate Malaria.

This basic outline of these people does not even begin to do the story justice. While we get all of these different perspectives, the way that Henriquez weaves their voices and stories is astounding. People are interesting and if you too love reading about people, flawed and all, please pick up this book. In the process, you will also learn quite a bit of history.

I always try to read Jenna’s monthly selections! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of March’s book choice. The story set up the characters' background and what was happening in Panama regarding the canal building. I liked some sections much more than others. Four stars.

What a tremendous accomplishment this book is. I never very little about the construction of the canal, but Henriquez made me care so very much about it. While the people are fictional, I feel like I know the people that built this canal and the construction of this book is just as fascinating.

I ended up DNFing this at 50%. I wasn’t feeling attached to the characters and found it to be a slog to get through. I wish this was more about the direct building of the Panama Canal, and found the character’s stories to not necessarily tie in well both to the canal and to each other. It just was not for me. The writing was beautiful though.

My rating does not reflect this writer's talent, only my enjoyment of this book. For me, this was not really about the building of the Panama Canal. It uses that moment in history mostly as a back drop for characters and storylines I didn't find all that interesting. Fans of traditional historical fiction will likely enjoy this well written novel.